Zhang Financial LLC Boosts Stock Position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Zhang Financial LLC increased its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 32.4% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,356 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 332 shares during the quarter. Zhang Financial LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $1,202,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Strong Tower Advisory Services grew its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 7.9% in the 1st quarter. Strong Tower Advisory Services now owns 1,867 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,346,000 after buying an additional 137 shares during the period. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors grew its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 62.8% in the 3rd quarter. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors now owns 2,417 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,143,000 after buying an additional 932 shares during the period. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 52.1% in the 2nd quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 7,645 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $6,499,000 after buying an additional 2,620 shares during the period. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC grew its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 22.8% in the 2nd quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC now owns 3,533 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,003,000 after buying an additional 656 shares during the period. Finally, Parcion Private Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 30.8% in the 2nd quarter. Parcion Private Wealth LLC now owns 5,596 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $4,757,000 after buying an additional 1,319 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 620 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $876.50, for a total transaction of $543,430.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 11,775 shares in the company, valued at $10,320,787.50. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 620 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $876.50, for a total value of $543,430.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 11,775 shares in the company, valued at $10,320,787.50. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 3,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $888.99, for a total value of $2,844,768.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 8,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,671,983.70. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 4,824 shares of company stock worth $4,260,493 in the last three months. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on COST shares. Redburn Atlantic lowered Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $860.00 to $890.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $855.00 to $950.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Loop Capital lifted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $975.00 to $1,005.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $925.00 to $975.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Finally, DA Davidson reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $880.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $886.74.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ COST traded up $5.08 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $894.84. The stock had a trading volume of 722,376 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,947,640. Costco Wholesale Co. has a one year low of $540.23 and a one year high of $923.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a current ratio of 0.97. The stock has a market cap of $396.71 billion, a PE ratio of 55.54, a P/E/G ratio of 5.53 and a beta of 0.80. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $884.56 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $829.12.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 26th. The retailer reported $5.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.05 by $0.10. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 31.05% and a net margin of 2.90%. The business had revenue of $79.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $79.91 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $4.86 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 17.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Profile

Costco Wholesale Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the operation of membership warehouses in the United States, Puerto Rico, Canada, Mexico, Japan, the United Kingdom, Korea, Australia, Taiwan, China, Spain, France, Iceland, New Zealand, and Sweden. The company offers branded and private-label products in a range of merchandise categories.